Rian Johnson’s Original Four-Page Treatment for Looper: More Love, Less Baby-Killing

As he promised at Fantastic Fest, writer-director Rian Johnson has made his original four-page treatment for what was once going to be a short version of Looper available online. He waited this long so that audiences wouldn’t be spoiled while it was still in theaters.

At the time we were still trying and failing to get Brick made, and out of frustration I started writing short ideas that we could film with no money. “The Psychology of Dream Analysis” was one that we actually made, this was another (though we never ended up shooting it.) It sat in a drawer for seven years, until I pulled it out and used it as a sort of treatment for what became the full script. It’s both very different and very similar to what we ended up with on screen, I hope it’s an interesting read. Let me know what you think.

It cuts to the heart of what the story’s really about and definitely feels less Terminator-y than the final film. At the same time, you can tell already that it’s full of possibilities for something much larger.

I don’t have a joke to end on. Maybe my future self can come back and provide one thirty years from now.